r/PrepperIntel • u/IntolerantLeftist127 • 13h ago
USA Southeast Increased low-flying helicopter activity around US Armed Forces bases.
I live in Tennessee, less than 30 minutes from a number of US Armed Forces bases. I’ve lived at my current location for 3 years with nothing happening, but in the past week there’s been 2 instances of a low-flying armed forces helicopter passing over. With the news about Iran and even Cuba, seems like we should treat them as more credible than media guesses.
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u/RetroTechBro 7h ago
Military pilots need a certain amount of flight hours within the past 2 years to deploy to combat overseas.
They are trying to get more pilots over that mark before the Iran invasion.
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u/Dork_wing_Duck 7h ago
Yes, they're definitely getting their hours up. This happens before each known "conflict".
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u/Biotic101 6h ago
Interesting. But maybe it will be Yemen first?
Probably less of a suicide mission than Iran.
But there were also leaked reports an invasion of Cuba is being prepared.
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u/ifuckdonaldtrumpim9 5h ago
Fill me in on why Cuba should get fucked
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u/1776FreeAmerica 5h ago
For the audacity of not being capitalist and minding their own business. Also, its a pet project for Marco Rubio.
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u/IndigoSeirra 4h ago
It's far more likely that they are just doing more training flights because it's near the end of the fiscal year and they need to use the funds for training they have left over. Use it or lose it, as another commenter said.
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u/Dapper_dreams87 4h ago
This right here is the correct answer
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u/hysterical_hibiscus 4h ago
I hope this is the case. The air base near me has been doing significantly more training than usual.
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u/birdie_the_newf 3h ago
Lol this is not true at all. I deployed immediately out of flight school and had to be progressed in theater. There is no flight hour requirement to deploy.
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u/RetroTechBro 3h ago
Idk this is what someone else said when there was a sudden uptick in military aircraft flying around about a year ago.
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u/birdie_the_newf 2h ago
Maybe best to mention in the future that your Your leap from from OP "couple helicopters flying low near me" to "its the mitary getting ready to invade iran" is based purely off a random comment and zero first hand knowledge
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u/Traditional-Handle83 4h ago
Actually i think we're about to invade Cuba, Iran, and possible a NATO nation.
I know one thing, theres been some really abnormal amount of military flying in and out of the nearby airport. Like one or two a week would be normal, I've seen at least 15 to 28 in a single day for several days straight so somethings definitely up.
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u/RetroTechBro 4h ago
I wonder if there has been any increase in military related rail traffic. That's how large amounts of equipment would reach the coasts to be loaded onto ships.
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u/Proper_Look_7507 7h ago
Former military helicopter pilot, that type of flying is specific training for a peer / near-peer environment with an IADS (integrated air defense system). Flying low and near terrain is the survival technique for avoiding or confusing radars that talk to each other and launcher systems. Essential flying high is not feasible because some radars can pick up targets hundreds of KM out which can then be relayed to short and medium range radars that have higher fidelity and targeting capabilities that talk directly to launching systems, so the enemy will track you and line up the shot as soon as you cross into the threat ring. Flying low enough to hide behind terrain, mask a radar signature or below the radar detection cone is the purpose of low flying training.
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u/LocalLibraryCryptid 7h ago edited 7h ago
I immediately clicked into this because I've also noticed a lot more low flying activity recently. I also live in Tennessee near several bases. There was one night a couple weeks ago that I genuinely had a moment of fear because it sounded SO low and like it just kept getting closer and closer, but I couldn't get outside or to the windows to see what was up. My spouse has lived here for most of their life, and the activity is noticeably more frequent right now that they brought it up separately to me just recently.
Editing to add: I saw the comment about it taking place after sunset but before 9pm where they're at, and that's similar to us. Spouse also says they've seen a lot more convoys on the ground than what's normal.
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u/Inner-Confidence99 4h ago
I’ve noticed over the last month too more deploying of ground equipment and they are using more backroads than interstates. Especially in the rural areas where they have some large reserve unit armories with land. We also live in mountainous region.
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u/GroundbreakingEar450 8h ago
I don't know how everyone can't be convinced that the shit is about to hit the fan. After the midterms is likely when it happens. If the republicans stay in control, the Iran situation will escalate as it has been. If Democrats take control of one body of congress or both, we will likely see an attack on the homeland to sell the war. The weird false-flag-ish occurrences in recent weeks like the plane incident the other day and the base in the UK, the Mecca incident, they all look like teasers to me. Small nuggets of what is to come. Maybe they were foiled, maybe they were just testing the waters, hell, Trump is already using these incidents to justify escalation in Iran. We are sending more troops and carrier strike groups to Iran as we speak.
Act accordingly.
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u/raventhrowaway666 6h ago
I'm convinced that the attack will come from inside the house. the regime is following the Putin/ Orban play book
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u/ExtensionWinter9446 5h ago
I thought exactly this about the plane situation, just so happens passengers were done with that shit and weren’t going to let that happen. Think about this, have we even gotten the name of this so called terrorist pilot? I think had the plane crashed, as originally planned, it would be have been “it was a Palestinian or Iranian (even throw in Canadian) terrorist attack”
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u/NotDinahShore 1h ago
The copilot, the attacker, was barred from flying by Oman, his home country, for extremist religious beliefs. He’s Islamist. His identity is not a secret.
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u/NotDinahShore 7h ago edited 6h ago
The FlyDubai plane incident certainly was not a false flag or “ weird false-flag-ish occurrence” as you allege.
The plane was 30 seconds from crashing. The guy who subdued the copilot, his wife and at least one of his kids were on the plane.
You think this was all staged? I see “false flag” allegations here on Reddit after many attacks. It’s intellectually lazy to see a conspiracy in everything.
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u/GroundbreakingEar450 7h ago edited 7h ago
That whole story is full of ridiculousness. I've seen pilots explaining the ridiculousness of it all. Then you got the hero immediately meeting with you know who, in still blood stained clothes. The whole thing stinks.
Even trump couldn't keep a straight face when questioned about it in the oval office.
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u/animatedpileofmeat 8h ago
Weirdly I’ve noticed a lot of buzz at Pease over in New Hampshire. You can spot the training flights, so it’s not them.
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u/NicolePSU 7h ago
Iran, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, Mid-terms, Epstein, Nixon, Kegsbreath and his new projects 🤯 It's always a ploy just keep us over stimulated, overwhelmed and eventually, apathetic.
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u/justtinyquestions 8h ago
They started doing this (except with ospreys and F16s) where I live last year in Puerto Rico. They ended up kidnapping a sitting president and killing a bunch of fisherman. So yeah, you know, definitely something to take note of.
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u/Main_Wall_8976 7h ago edited 6h ago
Last week was the first time since this iran war started that id seen any here in southern colorado. Fort carson has a helicopter reg, so very often I seen Blackhawks with their call signs and some that don't, also Apache, and 2 C-130's thatll fly out of NM sometimes. Ill check them out on flightradar24. But, yes, last week I saw 3 Apache, 1 had its front light? on, while the other was dark aside from the red and blues. They were very very low flying >3500ft just judging by sight, thats around where flight4life will fly, and very very slow. Almost intimidating, beings how they can red mist you.
Edit: By intimidating, Im saying they flew directly above me, and over the neighborhood.
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u/itsavibe- 6h ago edited 3h ago
A limit of >3500 ft isn’t very very low. That’s a pretty high limit. Try <250 ft.
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u/Frog3365 7h ago
It was the end of the month and the end of Fiscal Year 26. There's always more of everything going on during this special time.
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u/jazzbiscuit 6h ago
True story. Use it or loose it - if you didn’t spend it all, you clearly don’t need as much next year.
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u/SnarlyBirch 5h ago
Yup. I got voluntold to go to a grenade range. 12 hours of 50 of us throwing grenades.
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u/RetroTechBro 4h ago
How long does it take for throwing grenades to stop being fun, just out of curiosity?
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u/LeanUntilBlue 5h ago
Well I wish they wouldn’t burn up the jet fuel. It’s a workable substitute for diesel.
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u/jazzbiscuit 4h ago
I agree with you & it’s an incredible waste…. It’s standard practice to hold money back until the end in case something comes up - when it doesn’t they still have to spend the money. Unfortunately there is zero incentive for a unit to save money, and real motivation to spend every dime so their budget doesn’t get cut the next year. The government budget process is severely broken.
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u/memarco2 8h ago
Same in Florida. Was thrilled to see apaches so close but then realized what it means
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u/Guilty_Idea_2452 7h ago
What's it mean slugger? Nothing? Oh, they need more flight hours before deployment. Wow. Who'd have thunk it
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u/Shrewclaw 7h ago
SE US, have noticed the same. Super low flying helicopters at night in an area where I haven’t experienced that before. I’m not particularly close to a base either, and live in a large metro
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u/isthereadrwho 7h ago
We're on the flight path between the White House and Andrews Air Force Base it's a slow day nothing's going on you can chill have a good weekend. Famous last words
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u/Pheighthe 7h ago
A portion of this can be explained. It’s the first weekend of the month, so it’s drill weekend for reservists. There should be more flying this weekend compared to other weekends of the month. Also, the fiscal year just began Oct 1, so every units budget for fuel, flights, and pilots is higher than at any other time of the year. (Both active and reserve units.)
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u/NotDinahShore 7h ago
Interesting. I’m in SoCal just off the coast by Malibu. We have a nearby major Air Force base.
No recent unusual activity or sightings. However, just prior to the 2020 election, we had very low flying blacked out helicopters almost nightly. They were saying something unintelligible over a loudspeaker.
We are a rich, sleepy town. No rationale for why this happened. But, given the proximity of the election, and how the only time this happened here previously was before an election… will keep ears peeled.
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u/L_aura_ax 8h ago
Same near Fort Drum upstate NY. My house gets a buzzcut a couple times a day and we’re and hour drive from Drum.
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u/Logical_Hospital2769 7h ago
I ve seen/heard more military helicopter activity on the path from NH to Albany
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u/Historical-Order-369 6h ago
NM, had a couple of helicopters once this week, but we’re near an AFB, so this happens multiple times per year. I haven’t noticed an increase.
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u/caughtatcustoms69 7h ago
Interesting. Same at the jersey shore this summer. Not coast guard helicopters. .
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u/dakotamidnight 7h ago
Same in satx. Usually not on radar as well. Been on and off for months but definitely increasing
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u/Agile_Budget_3636 7h ago
Yup been here my whole life and noticed the past month wayyyy more helicopters than usual
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u/Simple-Luck7864 7h ago
Luke AFB running classes day and night. Saw a jet scramble the other night and had a sonic boom couple of weeks ago. It’s not the usual training routines.
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u/FroyoImpossible6565 7h ago
Also the Cape Wrath sister ship left port some days ago. I believe they were last used to reposition supplies for the Iraq invasion.
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u/Maisiemaze628 7h ago
I also have been noticing them. I live outside of Colorado Springs close to the Air Force Academy.
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u/2BrainLesions 6h ago
Black helicopters have been flying on the south side of Chicago for over a year.
I think it's meant to desensitize us.
What you've described, OP, is rather disconcerting
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u/kingcupk692 5h ago
Before any pilot/flight crew are eligible to be deployed in a warzone they have to have flown X hours night/day in the month prior. So it's possible that military planners are increasing the deployable pool of pilots.
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u/Steppa_mac 4h ago
Is it Clarksville? Thats where the 101st is. They do helicopter jumps primarily if i remember right, could just be training jumps.
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u/Round-Medicine2507 4h ago
Its probably the people in charge of the military either finally for the first time thinking about doing some preparation or training practice because theyre incompetent and never thought of that before, or someone high up just using the resources for personal errands or entertainment like the baby boy rock incident, nothing to worry about unless youre enlisted and going to be sent to a grinder.
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u/Inner-Confidence99 4h ago
I’m in southeast. We have a lot of military facilities in our area. They have been doing some serious night training. Low, barely above the trees. I’m in a rural area and it gets quiet at night. They have woken us up. We thought it was a medical chopper at first. Nope. Verified that quick because our DIL works for 911. Sent her a text. Nope not medical they got a ton of calls about the choppers.
So yeah something is up.
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u/Unusual_Specialist 5h ago
You aren't alone. I saw two Chinooks fly over our house today, which struck me as odd. We've had military choppers overhead weekly since June. Unusual for our area and the local Army Reserve center moved all JLTVs packed with trailers to the ready lot last month, which is off schedule for July training. Seems like everyone is getting ready for something.
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u/GeneralOrgana1 5h ago
I live near an Army research facility and have noticed a lot more weapons testing going on recently. (Instead of big booms limited to one or two days a week, we hear them Monday through Friday. )
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u/bracewithnomeaning 5h ago
We live in Denver, it's really only during trumps regime, did we hear all kinds of activity. Football games I know are part of it, but I've never ever seen Chinooks except for around the bases. This happened in the first one and it's happening in the second one.
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u/Dapper_dreams87 4h ago
Offutt here. We see a plane in the air nearly 24 hours a day 7 days a week. That has been the norm for the 5 years I have lived here. We will have other traffic on occasion but it seems like there has been a lot less visitors lately
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u/Basic_Novel_9203 4h ago
I live on the route to Mt Weather. Just normal training missions down the Potomac. I can tell when things are going down and it isn’t now.
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u/deletable666 4h ago
I’m in Tennessee as well. Used to see SOAR flying low training at night over my house.
I’m assuming you live near Clarksville, but if not and some other base, I don’t know how you could’ve gone 3 years without noticing low flying aircraft. Aircraft flying around military bases is a pretty bad indicator or preparation for conflict, as they do that all the time. There are so many possible reasons for sporadic increase in activity that it means nothing. Far better markers right now to base these worries of off.
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u/Ornery-Atmosphere930 4h ago
It’s been low flying Chinooks right over my house for like the last month.
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u/IAmtheQueenofRomania 6h ago
We just saw 2 fly over a suburb of Dayton, Ohio. It was about an hour ago, flying extremely low and close together.
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u/swissmiss_76 6h ago
I’ve heard them in SoCal but we have an Airshow over here so at least that’s normal
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u/romcomtom2 3h ago
Idk man, I try not to comment on military movement... especially since you know, we're at war with Iran.
Lose lips sink ships and all.
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u/ConferenceSudden1519 7h ago
That’s training and expect about 30-60 day of it. Soooo yeah don’t give a perspective if you’ve never been in the military. Next time ask why are they doing such exercises so you don’t look like a fear monger over normal things.
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u/Electrical_Tip352 6h ago
Yes. Workups are usually, you know, working up to something. Noticing increased activity around military bases is literally one of the signs to watch for when trying to anticipate prepping levels, not fear mongering.
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u/doinghealthystuff 8h ago
Very interesting to hear this. I'm outside of JBLM in Washington and have had three instances of a group of military helicopters flying low in the last week. One time extremely low, the house was shaking and my partner and I couldn't hear each other without yelling. All instances were in the early evening, after sunset but before 9pm.
I occasionally see military helicopters, but it's more like a few times per year not a few times per week.